Ellen Allen has always had a love for design. Seven years ago, she turned that passion into a business in Annapolis, making handbags donning her name.
"This is a street MBA when you start a company and you figure it out," she said.
Part of figuring it out for Allen included finding the balance between being an entrepreneur and a mom of two.
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"Some days I always say you're a hero and some days you're a zero, that's just kind of how it is," Allen said. "You live in the moment and when you're at work, you're at work, and when you're with them, you're with them."
Allen's story of success is one of many shared in her friend Nicole Feliciano's new book "Mom Boss."
"I would say the overall message is you can have a career on your own terms. There's going to be sacrifices along the way but I truly believe you can pick two things and do it well," she said.
Feliciano grew up in the Annapolis area and now lives with her family in New York City, where she runs a popular blog called "Mom Trends." She decided she wanted to share her experiences with other moms who want to get back into the workforce, but don't know how.
"It is meant to be a manual that you can pick up and put down. There's tons of stories from other women who have launched successful companies," Feliciano said. "I love the fact that so many women shared failures as well because that's part of being a "Mom Boss" is recognizing what's not working and changing it."
In the book, Feliciano goes over things like marketing, financing and even mom guilt. She also talks about how failure can help a mom's business.
"The key is taking everything you can from that failure. Learning from every loss, analyzing what worked and what didn't work."
Feliciano will be signing copies of "Mom Boss" at an event at the JCC Baltimore's Gordon Center in Owings Mills at 7 p.m. Thursday, during the Mom's Night Out event.
Other moms who have also started successful businesses will be there.
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